Labor and the Liberals are scrambling to fill candidate vacancies in key seats, less than two weeks out from when the federal election is expected to be called.
As major parties move to finalise candidates, former consulting boss Simon Kennedy has been chosen by the Liberals to contest the north-west Sydney seat of Bennelong.
Mr Kennedy now sits on the Committee for Sydney as a non-executive member after leaving McKinsey in late 2021 to "pursue interests in government", according to his LinkedIn page.
The NSW division of the Liberal party was given a deadline of 25 March to select candidates in key seats, after the federal executive intervened to re-endorse three sitting Liberal MPs who faced local challenges.
Mr Kennedy will take the mantle from former professional tennis player turned MP John Alexander who has announced his retirement from politics ahead of the federal election, due to be held in May.
The Liberal party is also yet to finalise candidates in marginal seats like Lilley, Eden-Monaro, Greenway or contestable seats like Warringah and Jagajaga.
Both major parties are yet to select nominees for the marginal seat of Parramatta, with incumbent Labor MP Julie Owens retiring.
Labor leader Anthony Albanese says he wants a consensus candidate chosen for the seat amid suggestions former advisor to Kevin Rudd, Andrew Charlton, could be parachuted into the seat despite living in Sydney's eastern suburbs.
Labor had previously faced criticism for a decision to parachute Labor frontbencher Kristina Keneally into the Western Sydney seat of Fowler, over a lawyer of Vietnamese-Australian heritage.
The NSW Liberals' Senate ticket will go to a vote on Saturday and Labor's Victorian ticket has been opened for nominations, with a vote to occur in Canberra on Tuesday afternoon if an election is required.
Labor has not won three seats at a half-Senate election in Victoria since 2007 and is likely to pick up two seats at the coming election expected in May.
Victorian government minister Natalie Hutchins and human rights barrister Fiona McLeod have been flagged as possible replacements for the late Senator Kimberley Kitching, who was up for re-election.
Veteran senator Kim Carr is also up for re-election, but faces a challenge, with union leader Linda White tipped to take his place.
Labor would need just eight seats to form a government during the upcoming election with the poll expected to be a closely contested result.
